MIAMI _ A hard-charging Hurricane Michael strengthened to a ferocious Category 4 storm overnight, battering the Florida Panhandle Wednesday morning with tropical storm-force winds as it quickly approached the coast.
At 11 a.m. Wednesday, National Hurricane Center forecasters said powerful sustained winds remained at 145 mph. The local National Weather Service office issued its first ever extreme wind warnings for Bay, Gulf and Franklin counties, meaning speeds could top 110 mph. as conditions quickly worsen and storm surge began washing over beaches.
The hurricane was located about 60 miles south, southwest of Panama City and has picked up speed, accelerating to 14 mph. The storm has also turned to the northeast.
While forecasters earlier warned of additional strengthening, radar now shows an additional eyewall trying to form in the storm, which could slow or weaken it, they said.
Hurricane-force winds extend about 45 miles from Michael's center. Tropical storm winds reach 185 miles.
As swells began pounding Panama City Beach, last-minute gawkers remained on what's usually a busy tourist hub lined with miniature golf courses, oyster bars and condos.
"I was going to stay here until it got to a category four," said Randy Simmons, 57, who came to check on his beachfront condo before heading to another inland property he owns. "This is going to be a big mess."
A couple hundred yards down the sand, Jeff Moats wondered if he hadn't made a mistake by not leaving. The Arkansas native said he decided to stay in his Panama City Beach home because it was his first hurricane.
"But I'm starting to wonder if I should have left," he said.
In Port St. Joe, just west of Apalachicola where storm surge is expected to hit hard, police continued patrolling while winds allowed. Bill Kennedy, redevelopment director for the old paper mill town, stopped by rental cottages he owns for a final check before heading to a local high school shelter. Kennedy's home sits about six feet above sea level, so he expects it to flood.
"It's going to be OK. We're going to wake up the next day cutting sheet rock and digging out insulation and we'll move forward," he said, but choked up when he considered what his family might lose.
"We just hope we can survive this catastrophic event," Kennedy said. "It's never happened before."
As winds, surge and rain began battering the coast _ Apalachicola reporting sustained winds of 40 mph _ residents who defied evacuation orders were told it was too late to leave.
"The storm is here," Gov. Rick Scott said in a Wednesday morning briefing. "If you are in a coastal area, do not leave your house... If you made the choice not to evacuate, please find a place to shelter."
This storm, he said, is "devastating."
Dangerous surge is expected to pound the coast from Homosassa Springs to Panama City, with the hardest areas around Apalachicola Bay. The surge could push up rivers as much as 10 to 15 miles, said hurricane center director Ken Graham. Water could rise nine to 13 feet of above normal levels near the Tyndall Air Force Base and between four and six feet around Cedar Key.
While only forecast to reach Cat 3 intensity on Tuesday afternoon, winds increased quickly from 140 mph to 145 mph in just two hours Wednesday morning. By 7 a.m., blustery tropical storm-force conditions had already begun to spread across parts of the Gulf Coast. About 90 miles southwest of Panama City, a NOAA buoy recorded sustained 60 mph winds and gusts up to 76 mph, forecasters said.
Pressure in the fierce system was down to 928 millibars, a unit of pressure used to determine a storm's strength. Only seven hurricanes on record have made landfall in Florida with a lower pressure, according to Colorado State University meteorologist Phil Klotzbach, including the 1926 Miami hurricane, the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane, the 1935 Labor Day storm and Andrew and Irma.
If it remains a Cat 4 at landfall, Michael will be the first in the Panhandle since records started. The last major storms to hit the area occurred more than a decade ago. Hurricane Ivan made landfall in 2004 near Pensacola followed by Dennis in 2005 on Santa Rosa Island. Both were Cat 3 storms.
